


the extreme of winter

by engmaresh



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Action/Adventure, Competency, Drama, F/M, Festivals, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Getting Together, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Season/Series 04, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:21:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 7,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21635770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/engmaresh/pseuds/engmaresh
Summary: As Kuvira and her troops reunite the northernmost Earth Kingdom states, a simple relief effort is changed by an unexpected disaster. Still new to leading an army and governing a nation, Kuvira finds herself dealing with eccentric subordinates, unexpected challenges and unusual customs.And winter's longest night is soon approaching.Chapter 24: A nation--partially united! A story--coming to an end! Kuvira--not coming to bed, because she has to think about stuff!
Relationships: Baatar Jr. & Kuvira (Avatar), Baatar Jr./Kuvira (Avatar)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 46
Collections: 2019 Advent Ficlet Challenge





	1. snowflake

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2019 Advent Ficlet Challenge. Title is the literal translation of the Chinese name for the winter solstice.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kuvira experiences snow for the first time.

It had started snowing an hour ago. Kuvira was glad she wasn’t the only one new to it; about half her troops wandered around, staring at the sky. From deeper into the camp she could hear cheers and shouts. She could imagine the few waterbenders in her army were very popular right now.

Catching sight of a particular large flake floating down towards her, Kuvira darted a quick glance around good—no one was watching—and stuck her tongue out. She had to bounce forward on her toes to catch it, and it melted immediately.

“It’s just water.”

Kuvira whirled around, cheeks warming when she spotted Baatar. He’d suddenly stepped around the corner, breathing into his cupped hands. “I know that,” she muttered defensively.

“We should move camp tomorrow before we get snowed in.”

“Is that a possibility?”

“If this keeps up.” Baatar raised his face to the sky with a frown on his face—it turned into a scowl as flakes settled on his glasses, fogging the lenses.

“You don’t like it,” she observed. 

He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his overcoat and shrugged. “I don’t have any particular feelings about it. It’s cold, it’s wet, and it may look pretty now, but it gets pretty disgusting once everyone’s trampled through it.”

“Those sound like pretty strong feelings to me.”

Baatar grunted, and shrugged again.

“Don’t ruin this for the troops,” she warned, “they’re having fun.”

That made him laugh. “Don’t worry, everyone’s safe from my anti-snow propaganda. Even you. I’ll leave you to your snow tasting. But join me in Varrick’s workshop later? We’re going to see if we can heat up his home-brew engine fuel liquor without it exploding.

“For military applications of course,” he added hastily, but he was grinning as he said it.


	2. wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kuvira tries to escape her CMO.

Seiji accosted her on the way to Varrick’s workshop. 

“Ah, Kuvira, Uniter, Great One, whatever they’re calling you these days. Do you have a moment?”

It wasn’t quite a question and it was far too late for Kuvira to duck into a tent and pretend she other more pressing matters to attend to.

“A momen—”

Seiji cut her off. “Where are my medicines? My tonics, antibiotics and additional vaccines I asked you to order from Taku?”

Kuvira bit back an irritated sigh. “The shipment was late. I passed on the message, you should have been informed days ago.”

“Dammit,” Seiji snapped. “These medicines are important! I bet you some of these villages haven’t seen a vaccine in years!”

“And yet they’ve survived this long,” Kuvira muttered dryly. “You’re a doctor, you’ll figure it out.”

“A _doctor_ , not a miracle worker. You can’t just bend immunities into shape.”

“Look,” said Kuvira, quickly tiring of the conversation. There was a reason she preferred to pass messages along instead of conversing with Seiji directly. “Your medicines will be brought up here immediately, as soon as we have them.”

“Not with this weather,” Seiji muttered, squinting suspiciously up at the sky. Snow was still falling in large, fat clumps.

“Baatar said that too.” Kuvira glanced over worriedly at the older woman. “You think we’ll get snowed in?”

“Not tonight,” said Seiji with a shrug. “But we should hurry and get to the villages by tomorrow.

“Now,” she continued, “I assume you’re looking for that Beifong boy? I’m looking for him too, the heater in my tent’s busted.”

Shaking Seiji was not an option; the woman was stubborn as an oxhog. Kuvira weighed the odds. Potential explosions meant a doctor might just come in handy. And Seiji was always game for a drink or two.


	3. the more the merrier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone neglects duty in the name of “science”.

Varrick’s workshop: in truth a battered, repurposed shipping container hauled around on a truck.

Kuvira’s most brilliant scientific minds: actual lunatics who were going to get them all killed.

Kuvira: technically in charge, should probably intervene and put a stop to this madness before it ended in tears.

Seiji: Chief Medical Officer, doesn’t care, wants booze.

Zhu Li: the only actual adult in the room, dressed in protective gear, holding a fire extinguisher.

All the ingredients for a disaster were right there. Varrick and Baatar had a rig involving a small gas burner over which bubbled two test tubes of mildly greenish liquid. A faint smell of grass (and the heavy scent of alcohol) filled the small space.

“Is that supposed to be green?” asked Seiji, watching as Baatar decanted more of the liquor into a rack of test tubes.

“That’s the spirulina!” said Varrick, sounding very pleased. “For that extra brain boost!”

Kuvira narrowed her eyes. Based on the smell alone, she was sure thinking was last thing Varrick’s hooch would improve.

Seiji seemed to agree. “Smells like the stuff I use to sterilise my scalpels with. Give me that—” and before anyone could stop her, she swiped a test tube from the rack and downed it.

The room watched with bated breath. Seiji swallowed, smacked her lips, tilted her head. “I think I’ve had worse.”

“That’s what I said!” crowed Varrick. To Baatar: “You’re just a lightweight.”

“Wait, you already drank some of that?” asked Kuvira.

“For science,” Baatar insisted. Varrick nodded along, adding, “Running tests. Very important.”

“That’s why we want to see if it tastes better warm. Like sake.”

“Sake is more potent warm,” Kuvira warned.

“That’s the point.” 

Together, the two men removed the liquor from the flame. Toasted each other, “Yam seng!” and drank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear reader, I'm just as curious about the direction this fic is taking as you are!


	4. lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kuvira experiences a moment a beauty, then plot happens.

“Whoa.”

It took a second for Kuvira to realise the glowing ribbons of light were _not_ a hallucination, because she could hear similar exclamations of awe come from further away too.

“Northern lights,” said Baatar, glasses askew, a dopey look on his face. “I’ve read about them. Never thought I’d actually see them.”

“They’re beautiful,” Kuvira said. She wasn’t sure if it was the sheer wonder of it all that sent her swaying into his side, or just the potent alcohol they’d just consumed. The Imperial hooch _did_ taste better warm, and it still glowed like a banked fire in her belly. Even the sound of Varrick retching loudly into the snow behind them did little to dampen her good mood.

Of course that meant something else had to step in to take his place.

“Kuvira!”

 _Oh no_ , thought Kuvira, _not now, not like this_.

“Uh…” said the private, taking in the scene before him. “Bad time?”

“It’s fine,” she muttered, straightening, smoothing back her hair and trying not to betray the fact that he was blurry at the edges. “What’s wrong?”

“We received an emergency radio from Hima. They’ve had a heavy snowfall for several days now, and about an hour ago it triggered an avalanche at the edge of the town.”

Kuvira swore. Both the private and Baatar looked taken aback, and she glared at them, face warm.

“What?” she snapped, wishing she could bend herself sober. Maybe _that_ was the kind of experimentation Baatar and Varrick ought to pursue. “How long till we can get there?”

“Three days, maybe one if we leave off laying the tracks.”

Kuvira scowled, then made a snap decision. “We’ll take half the troops and leave tonight. We need those train tracks, for situations like this.

“C’mon,” she ordered, “Let’s move out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything changed when the plotbenders attacked!


	5. wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kuvira and co. go on the march, and snow isn’t as exciting anymore.

The biting wind did much to help Kuvira sober up; the icy gusts of wind kept forcing her mind back at attention. The snow no longer looked as benign and beautiful as it had hours before. Now it was easier to understand both Baatar’s and Seiji's suspicions of it as flew into their faces and obscured their surroundings. Already it had started piling up on the sides of the dirt track, and while it was still fresh enough that it crunched easily underfoot, Kuvira was experiencing firsthand how tiring walking through snow could be. 

How did the water tribes do this? Tanah and Ayer were at the very front of the line, bending the snow out of the way of the convoy of trucks carrying tents, and medical and relief supplies. As much as she’d intended for what was now an emergency instead of rather less hurried relief effort to get moving right away, it had still taken them until dawn before they could get started.

The magic of last night had completely faded by then, along with the northern lights, and the snow felt more like icy pellets than feathery flakes. On the other hand, the effects of Varrick’s stupid hooch still lingered, but it no longer kept her warm—instead Kuvira now felt slightly ill. She was almost glad the wind made it hard to talk and be heard; right now, opening her mouth felt risky. Besides, she felt better about letting the waterbenders take point seeing as they had experience with the weather and element that she lacked.

She’d left Baatar and Varrick behind at the camp, along with most of the earth and metalbenders. They weren’t going to be much help with an avalanche anyway, and the sooner they got those train tracks down, the better.


	6. spirit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which…there’s something in the trees! What is it?

“What was that?” 

Kuvira jerked up from her stupor— at some point walking had become a mechanical effort, her eyes and mind fixated only on putting one foot before the other.

“I saw it too.”

Hushed but frantic whispers around her, men and women looking away into the trees, eyes wide, their heads turning wildly.

She had to clear her throat several times before her voice rang out clear enough to be heard over the wind. “What’s going on?”

Heads tilted nervously in her direction. She generally kept a good rein on her temper, but almost everyone knew there were some things she had little patience for. “Spirits,” was one of them.

“Where?” she demanded, looking around. All she could see were the grey dark masses of trees on either side of them, through the blurred white curtain of snow.

“Passing through the trees.” The private who claimed to have seen it fixed a stubborn moue on his face. “It was moving very quickly.”

“Well,” said Kuvira, “if we leave it alone, it should leave us alone too.” She didn’t believe him, but judging from the expressions of many others, they did. No surprise there, many of her soldiers were of rural stock, where superstitions reigned. In her experience, spirits were mostly harmless; all those stories of them sucking the qi of virgins and other such ridiculous things were just old wives tales.

“We’re close to the poles,” muttered someone else. “The spirits are more active and dangerous there.”

“Did you hear of the giant spirit attack on Republic City—”

“Maybe they’ll attack us. With the Avatar gone—”

Kuvira put as much authority into her voice as she could muster despite her chattering teeth. “We will be fine. There will be no spirit attacks. And we  _ don’t  _ need the Avatar.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original prompt was _angel_ but I changed it for the setting.


	7. ashes and soot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which great tragedy sometimes works towards a greater cause.

“Gas explosion,” Trung explained. “We had a leak, and no one noticed in the chaos until it was too late.”

Kuvira stood with the mayor of Hima in the center of the town, where the town hall had once stood. All that was left of it was a burnt out shell, soot and ash mixing with the snow to create a grey, concrete-looking slush beneath their feet.

“But no one was hurt?” 

“We have plenty dead and injured already,” Trung said grimly. “At least we were spared more.”

Looking around, Kuvira took in the flattened ruins of buildings that spread out to the east of the town. Tanah and Ayer had gone to work, along with several of the town’s own waterbenders to clear the snow that had crashed down over Hima. Sixteen people had been found so far, crushed to death in their beds as they slept, unsuspecting of the danger that had come rushing towards them.

“We’re grateful you managed to come so quickly,” Trung was saying. “I must admit you weren’t quite what I expected.”

Kuvira suppressed a grimace, but something must have shown in her face because he chuckled ruefully, “I’m sorry, you must be hearing that far too often.”

“I just wish to help,” she said, aiming for diplomacy. “We all do.”

“And our nation is better for it. That unification treaty of yours... I must confess, I had my doubts at first, but I will sign it.”

“Thank you,” said Kuvira, feeling a surge of relief at his words. Anytime she didn’t have to sweet talk or aggressively convince someone into signing it was a boon. 

“I will meet with my council in an hour,” Trung told her. “You are invited to join us.”

“I’ll be there,” she promised him. “Always at your service.”


	8. warm bath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kuvira takes a much needed break.

By the time Kuvira got to the  _ onsen  _ on the outskirts of the village, her face was numb, her feet frozen in her boots. Any feelings of goodwill that remained about the snow had vanished—the picturesque surroundings simply reminded her how deceptively treacherous the beautiful landscape could be.

Due to the lateness of the hour, the  _ onsen _ was fairly deserted by the time she arrived. Some women she recognised from the medical tents passed by as she undressed in the locker room; they recognised her in return, and Kuvira found herself awkwardly fielding their thanks dressed only in a towel. But finally she managed to escape, and fled to the outdoor area, cold smacking into her like a wall.

The hot spring was barely visible in the dim light amidst curls of steam—Kuvira used her bending to sense where ground ended and water began. She tried to get into the pool as quickly as she could,and half splashed in rather gracelessly, sending small waves slopping over the edges. It was hotter than she anticipated, or maybe it was the contrast to the cold; a little gasp escaped her as she sank into the water up to her neck.

Kuvira closed her eyes and let the warmth sinking into her bones wash away all thoughts of the day—the lack of news from Baatar, the chaos in the medical tents, laying out the bodies one-by-one to be cremated.

“Kuvira?”

She opened her eyes, realizing belatedly that she wasn’t alone. “Zhu Li!” She barely recognized Varrick’s assistant without her glasses, her hair piled up in a Fire Nation-style topknot atop her head. 

“You’re up late,” she observed. 

“I was needed,” Zhu Li said simply. Kuvira nodded. In times like these, there were few divisions. Everyone helped where they could.


	9. festive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Seiji isn't a joyless hag, and Kuvira gets questioned by aunties.

In the morning, Kuvira returned to the medical tent, where she found Seiji assisting the village healer, Tunba, and administering her meager supply of vaccines to the village children. After receiving their shot, each child was given a hot bowl of syrupy _tangyuan_ to eat as a reward.

“Sweets for the children?” Kuvira observed, as she sat down next to Seiji and pulled on a pair of sterile gloves. “What happened to ‘it’ll rot their teeth’?”

“I’m not that joyless,” said Seiji, and indeed, she looked rather more cheerful than usual. It wasn’t all that surprising; children often brought out Seiji’s only soft spot.

“Make yourself useful and stop getting underfoot,” she grumbled at Kuvira, though not ungently. “I have this well in hand, go kiss some babies or grandmothers or something.”

“Fine.” She cheekily snapped rubber of her glove against the older woman’s arm before she left, only to get a tongue depressor thrown at her in return, one Kuvira easily dodged. 

“Child!” Seiji scolded, but Kuvira could detect the fondness in it.

Heading over to the rewards station, Kuvira found herself quickly pressed into service by a grateful Tunba. A tray of steaming dessert was placed into her hands, with the direction to pass them out among the less ambulatory patients.

There weren’t many. Despite the deaths, almost everyone else had escaped injury, and the ones lingering were more victims of seasonal maladies than of the avalanche. Many of them still smiled when she passed them the _tangyuan_ , had her sit with them as they asked how she was, and gave her the typical auntie interrogation: _Have you eaten? Did you sleep well? Do you have a boyfriend?_ Kuvira fielded their questions as well as she could, then found herself roped into making paper lanterns for the children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing Kuvira being forced to interact with nosy aunties/grandmas.


	10. once a year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which a bad dumpling brings good fortune.

When she finished her rounds, Tunba took her aside with a bowl of _tangyuan_ to the little altar that had been set up at one corner of the room. Kuvira believed in neither spirit nor ancestor worship, but she dutifully took the joss sticks Tunba passed to her, and made her obeisances to the tiny statue of Yue, while Tunba prayed for the moon spirit’s blessings.

Once they were done, Tunba took the bowl and pressed it into Kuvira’s hands. “Eat up.”

Kuvira couldn't hide her surprise. “Me?” Most northern customs had offering food reserved for the elders in the community.

“You deserve it,” said Tunba. “Now eat! Before it gets colder.”

Kuvira hesitantly sipped at the soup. It was sweet and gingery, with a mild woody note of dried lotus seeds. Scooping up a dumpling, she bit into it. Usually they were filled with a sweet paste of red bean or peanuts, but here a bitter paste flowed out onto Kuvira’s tongue. She almost reflexively spit it out, but caught herself and swallowed with some difficulty.

When she looked up, Tunba was grinning. “Got the bitter one, didn’t you?” She clapped Kuvira on the shoulder. “Congratulations. And blessed by Yue too!”

Her confusion must have been obvious, because Tunba chuckled. “Don’t worry, you can eat the rest. There’s only one surprise in every pot we make. One dumpling full of bitterness, all the bitterness you’ll experience for the year. If you get that one, you’ll have had it all in one bite, and the rest of the year will be prosperous for you. Success, happiness, love, you’ll have it all.”

“And a reminder that life is bittersweet?” asked Kuvira.

“The other way around,” said Tunba, smiling. “There’s just one dumpling. Life is often more sweet than it is bitter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So based on _Rise of Kyoshi_ , forms of spirit and/or ancestor worship do exist in the Avatarverse. Also since they're so far up north, there's some cultural overlap with the Northern Water Tribe, hence the worship of Yue/Tui.  
> The bitter dumpling is not a real custom, I made it up. It's ground up dried bittergourd.


	11. chimney

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which further observances are made.

Smoke, black as tar, dense as fog, poured out of the chimney of the makeshift crematorium. The five days of mourning had been observed, and after the last morning prayers shortly before sunrise, the dead were consigned to the flames.

Kuvira stood next to Trung and the other village elders, watching the fire eat away at the bodies. The heat and the smoke stung her eyes, and for the first time in ages, sweat trickled down the back of her neck under her heavy winter coat. Around them, the snow had turned to slush, the dirt beneath that to mud.

A log broke, sending up a shower of sparks. Kuvira blinked. It wasn’t the first funeral she’d attended since she’d embarked on her campaign, and it wasn’t going to be the last. Some of the people she’d cremated in the past, she struck down herself. She glanced down, and for a moment it seemed to her that her hands were covered in red, but it was merely a trick of the light and her mind, firelight reflecting off her pale gloves.

For hours they stood there, mere feet away from the flames that choked the blue sky above with smoke, when finally a gong sounded. It was over. Tunba and Trung remained to stoke the fires until they burned away to nothing, while everyone else was ushered off to partake in a shared meal.

Kuvira sat off to the side, joined by a silent Zhu Li, and picked at her preserved vegetables stewed with pork intestine. With the main mourning period over, more energy could be diverted to rebuilding, but she was also hoping to get back on the road again. There was still no word from the engineering team she’d left behind and she was starting to get antsy.


	12. bah humbug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Baatar Jr finally reenters the story with his team.

“They’re here!”

Kuvira sat up in her chair, looking up from the report her eyes had glazed over for the past hour.

“Who?” she barked, needing confirmation but sure of the answer.

“Beifong and his team!” yelled the private and ran off without being dismissed. Kuvira decided not to pursue him. He’d receive his dressing down later. 

At a more sedate pace, trying to curb her own excitement and relief, she pulled on her coat and her gloves, and stepped back out into the cold. The sun was setting, and she could hear the distant rumbling of trucks.

Finally the rest of her people came into view, hauling their supplies with them. Baatar stumbled out of the first truck that came to a stop, and walked straight up to her. He opened his mouth to speak, then only just seemed to notice the people surrounding them, soldiers and curious villagers alike, and dashed off a hasty salute. “At ease,” said Kuvira quickly, eager to hear his report.

“You have your tracks. We’ve been working non-stop, and Varrick’s taking care of the final bit tonight. The station’s at the pass two _li_ from here, and we can have a train up here by next week.”

Kuvira couldn’t help the smile that broke over her face, while everyone else cheered. “That’s excellent news. Well done.”

Baatar’s responding smile came out more a grimace. “Thanks, but—” he waved at the men and women assembled behind him. “We’ve been pulling eighteen hour shifts for five days. We need food, we need beds, and if there’s hot water we’ll take that too.”

“You’ll have that,” promised Trung, coming up behind her. “Do your people at the pass need anything?”

As he directed the newcomers, Kuvira sidled up to her second-in-command. “Take my tent,” she whispered.


	13. family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a whole bunch of debriefings happen, the un-fun kind.

It took some time to get everyone settled. They divided the newcomers into groups, sending some off to the onsen, and some to the canteen. Any injured or sick were sent off to the medical tent to Seiji, who was more than happy to terrorise some new faces.

While everyone else was being taken care off, Kuvira debriefed Baatar and several of his higher ranking assistants. Crammed into her tent, they all stood almost swaying against one another with exhaustion, but each engineer and bender nigh radiated satisfaction as they reported the speed and efficiency with which they had managed to complete the construction.

“Very well done,” Kuvira said again, taking in the team. They’d come a long way since Ba Sing Se. Of the original engineering team from Zaofu, only Baatar and Chula remained (Varrick didn’t count). Gim Eun Seok had travelled all the way from Kyoshi Island to join the army, and Kuang had actually started off in the penal military unit, before proving his worth as an exceptional metal bender and electrician.

“You’ll all be receiving commendations and promotions,” she added, hiding a smile as they cheered and patted each other on the back. “Now eat, get cleaned up, and get some sleep,” she told them. “I don’t want to see you until 1200 hours tomorrow.”

“Do I get a commendation and promotion too?” Baatar joked quietly as she stepped back to let his team file out of the tent.

Kuvira snorted. “Do you need one? The order to eat, clean up and sleep does apply to you too though.”

“Did you really mean..?” he gestured minutely around her tent.

“Yes,” she said, clasping her arms behind her back. “I’ll see you back here when you’re done.”

His eyes narrowed. “As long as it’s not another debriefing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realise that Kuvira's troops here aren't quite as formal as they should be, but this takes place in the early days of her campaign where she's still finding her feet as a ~~dictator~~ leader, and besides, they lack some of those in canon too (chiefly everyone addressing her by name instead of title, etc.)


	14. not a creature was stirring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kuvira catches a feeling and is conflicted about it.

Baatar was fast asleep when she returned to her tent. He didn’t stir as she carefully sealed the door back up. Buried in his sleeping bag up to his chin, the slow, regular cadence of his breathing filled the space. His glasses lay folded on the floor near his head—dangerous. A prime target for being stepped on. With a wave of her hand, Kuvira summoned them to her desk, where they would be safe from feet. 

Slowly, she began to unbutton her heavy overcoat. It was cold enough that she was reluctant to undress. Her usually nightly ritual involved skinning out of her uniform as quickly as possible before slipping into her sleeping bag, but she’d forgotten the process could be rather noisy.

As she stood there in the cold and dark like an idiot, contemplating her dilemma, Baatar rolled around in his sleep, muttered something that sounded like “compressor”, then settled back down with a soft whistling snore.

Kuvira sighed, rolling her eyes at herself. She knew why she was hesitating.

They’d slept together several times since Zaofu, encounters happening in the heat of the moment, instances of desperate intimacy brought about by high spirits and adrenaline. But Kuvira liked him. She liked him a  _ lot _ , more than she’d ever thought herself capable of liking the quiet, nebbish boy she’d first met years ago when Su had taken her under her wing.

But sex was one thing. A relationship was something else entirely. They were at war. Either one of them could die at any moment. To pursue this would be useless.

And yet… after all this time. He was still here. Hadn’t run back home to Su, instead he’d stayed to get shot at, impaled, built her a train—

“Kuvira?” She startled.  “What are you doing here?” 


	15. baby please come home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which two idiots argue in the cold.

This was getting ridiculous. “Sweet spirits, get back in the tent, Baatar.”

He ignored her. Standing out in the snow with a blanket around his shoulders like a stupidly tall lost waif. “I’m tired of this, Kuvira. You come into my, I mean, your tent, start stripping—”

“I was getting ready to sleep, numbskull. What do you think I was planning to do?” she scoffed. “Molest you in the dark?”

“What do you want? Last month you told me pursuing anything serious was pointless during a war. Now you’re asking me to sleep in your tent like, like I’m some kind of...boytoy.”

Boytoy? It sounded like he’d been hanging out with Varrick for far too long. “Don’t be ridiculous. Now get back in here!”

“Do you even know what you want?”

“No! No, I don’t! But just—you— _argh_! Do you really want to have this conversation in the snow? Come back in here, you idiot!”

Baatar finally came, noticeably shivering as he stepped back into the tent. Kuvira pushed him down, threw the sleeping bag at his face. He could sort himself out there. His cold, wet feet she bundled in a towel, then she sat down and held them in her lap to warm them.

“I just wanted to sleep,” he whined.

“Then sleep.”

“Without you lurking over me like a creeper.”

She dropped his feet, quickly undressed to her thermal undergarments and slid into her own sleeping bag on the far side of the tent.

“Happy now?”

Another whine. “My feet are still cold.”

“Serves you right.”

A shuffling noise made her turn, and there was Baatar, still in his sleeping bag, worming his way across the tent to her.

“You’re contrary as fuck, you know that, right?” he murmured, and leaned down to kiss her.


	16. midnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Baatar is once again roused from his sleep.

Kuvira opened her eyes. It was still dark, and she sensed that not much time had passed since she’d fallen asleep. Had she just dozed? She couldn’t remember dreaming.

To stay warm they’d zipped the sleeping bags together, but now it was just stifling. Even after having rolled away from her in his sleep with his back to her front, Baatar radiated heat like a furnace. 

Carefully, very carefully, Kuvira unzipped one side, sighing with relief when cool air drifted over her skin. But even this small change roused Baatar, who groaned and rolled over, waking for the second time that night. Kuvira winced apologetically. She didn’t recall him being this light a sleeper.

“I’m never sleeping with you again,” he grumbled, one arm reaching out of the sleeping bag to grab a spare blanket which he pulled in with him. “The actual sleeping kind of sleeping. I slept better with Varrick snoring away in the top bunk.” He opened his eyes. “What _are_ you doing?

“I’m hot,” she muttered defensively.

“Well, now I’m freezing.” His elbowed up and started fumbling along his side. “C’mon, let’s separate these. I want to be able to sleep at least five more hours uninterrupted.” 

“I’m not waking you up for the fun of it,” Kuvira grumbled, but she quickly pulled the zip all the way down, unsnagging the two bags so that they could seal them up separately.

“Don’t wake me—” Baatar began, but was suddenly cut off by the sound of a distant, muffled _boom_. For a moment, they sat frozen in the dark, staring wide-eyed at each other, then Kuvira stumbled out, dragging Baatar with her.

“Another avalanche?” she gasped, stuffing her feet into her boots.

“Maybe—” he broke off. “No. It came from the tracks.”

In unison, they muttered, “Varrick.”


	17. wonder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Varrick blows stuff up again.

Windblown, frozen, they arrived at the pass and its tiny train stop. Leaping from the truck, Kuvira’s stiff knees almost buckled under her, but she caught herself in time. Baatar didn’t fare so well.

“Varrick!’ he bellowed, staggering up from his hands and knees. “VARRICK! What are you doing?”

Their Chief Scientist, sticking his head out of his workshop, ignored them both. “Zhu Li!” he cried, face lighting up at the sight of his assistant, alighting from the truck with far more grace than her superiors. “You’re here! I need you to do the thing!”

“What thing?” Baatar yelled, even as Zhu Li calmly walked past him into the tent.

“Never you mind,” said Varrick dismissively, following her back inside. 

Baatar huffed. “Yes, I damn well mind,” he shouted. He stomped after the older man.

This left Kuvira outside in a cold, with only a private with her.

“Radio the camp,” she ordered the woman. “It’s no emergency. Yet.”

Looking around the small camp, it looked like Varrick’s workshop had exploded. Tracks of metal and concrete stretched into the dark, and abandoned coils of wire lay like frozen snakes on the ground. The source of the explosion soon became clear: the hulking, burnt-out form of a generator that stood still smoking next to the tracks.

Kuvira groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“It’s fine.” She turned to see Baatar trudging up to her, hands tucked into his armpits. “There was a short circuit. He has another one. Clear the tracks, he’s going to start it up in five.”

A wave of her hand cleared the construction debris, moments before the telltale hum of the tracks magnetizing. Out of the darkness an empty cart hurtled across the tracks before landing in a snowdrift.

“It works!” 

“Yes.” Baatar grinned. “It works.”


	18. exhausted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the night's excitement is over...for now.

Kuvira glared into the mirror, making sure each one of her subordinates caught her steely gaze.

“You’re not going to breathe a word about this.”

“No, Sir,” said Private Vo.

“Not at all, Kuvira,” said Zhu Li.

“Good,” Kuvira muttered, and turned her gaze out the window. Varrick had concluded his testing, promising to keep off from further experiments until the morning. That would leave them at least a few more hours of blissful, uninterrupted rest. Baatar had already taken advantage of that, sagging against his seatbelt, his head resting on Kuvira’s shoulder. She didn’t have the heart to push him off, and so she was forced to swear the truck’s other two occupants to secrecy.

“Will you need help with him?” asked Zhu Li once they disembarked from the vehicle. Kuvira shook her head. She’d seen the woman carry a full grown man on her back once—Varrick, of course it was always Varrick—but she could handle this. Zhu Li needed her rest too.

Meanwhile Baatar was sleeping the sleep of the truly exhausted, prevented from slumping into the snow by Kuvira’s hip pinning him to the truck. He’d roused briefly to climb out of it, then lapsed back into a standing doze Kuvira recalled from their days in Zaofu, when she’d been forced to herd him or his father from their workshop after long nights.

Kuvira manhandled Baatar back into their tent, where she pulled off his outdoor gear and managed to wrestle all his limbs into his sleeping bag. She was climbing into her own when he rolled over and muttered, “You have to…”

“I have to what?”

“The noodles…” He smacked his lips.

Kuvira huffed a laugh. Food. He was dreaming about food.

She was going to have to tease him about that come morning.


	19. escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unity! In which another town joins the great Earth Empire.

“This is excellent!” cried Trung when he saw the tracks. “And you said this line goes all the way to Ba Sing Se?”

“Not this line exactly,” Kuvira explained. The main hub up here is BeiShi, and from there you can take a direct line to Ba Sing Se.”

“I’ve never been to the city,” Hima’s mayor said wistfully. “Never been further south than BeiShi.” He bowed deeply. “Thank you, Great Uniter, for opening Hima to the world.”

“It’s nothing,” Kuvira told him, holding out her hand so that he’d straighten and shake that instead. Bowing made her uncomfortable. “Our people have been kept separated and in disharmony for too long. It’s high time that the Earth Kingdom achieves the same technological advancement and power as the other nations.”

Together they walked back towards the train stop, where benders and non-benders alike were installing the trickier electromagnetic components running the track. It was amazing, Kuvira thought, that they’d come so far in so little time. Everything the nation needed was there in its people. They’d just needed a bit of guidance to bring out their iron will.

As Trung wandered away, Kuvira folded her arms behind her back and watched her people work. They’d be leaving soon, with a treaty signed, a town partially rebuilt, and a shipment of Hima’s invaluable zinc ore, with more to follow. Several of Hima’s youth had decided to enlist too, all of them strong, loyal men and women. They’d be heading down to Ba Sing Se to train once the town’s mourning period ended. 

The people of the Earth were strong. Kuvira knew that many often misinterpreted their cultural emphasis on steadiness as stagnation. But neutral jing didn’t just mean observing and waiting. It meant knowing when to strike.

And now was the time.


	20. present

The voice, young, high, tentative, piped up from her elbow over communal dinner. “Um...madam? Great Uniter?”

Kuvira hastily swallowed her mouthful, and turned to the girl that had come up behind her. She shuffled nervously back, and Kuvira did her best to arrange her expression out her usual serious resting face. Something friendlier. “Hi,” she said, keeping her voice light. “Can I help you?”

The little girl turned, and Kuvira followed her gaze to an older woman standing at the side of the hall, watching intently. Catching her eye, Kuvira gave the woman a slight nod, and in turn, she jerked her head in Kuvira’s direction. Kuvira watched as the girl’s shoulders squared in determination, before she spun back around, arms outstretched.

In her hands was a doll, not very well made in all honesty, but a fair attempt for a child of about...seven, maybe eight? The stitching showed clear signs of having been cleaned up by more experienced hands, but it was still lopsided, the stuffing lumpy, the button eyes mismatched.

“Is that for me?”

The girl nodded. She almost dropped it when Kuvira took it, and snatched her hand back as though scared Kuvira would take that too. Kuvira turned the doll over in her hand. The black yarn hair had been knotted at the back. It was dressed in green, and sure enough, when she turned it face up, a beauty spot had been dripped carefully with ink under the wrong eye.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely, and gave the girl a small smile. She squeaked, and scurried back to her mother, who gave Kuvira another nod then herded her daughter out.

Kuvira turned back to her food, carefully propping the doll up against her cup.

“Great likeness,” Baatar commented from further down the table.


	21. winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which plans for disaster prevention are made.

The wind howled. Snow had started falling again, and despite Trung’s reassurances that this weather was normal for the time of year, the nervousness in his voice did not put Kuvira at ease.

Hima had buried their dead mere days ago. Thanks to Kuvira’s forces, parts of the town had already been rebuilt, but they had to move out soon. Another disaster and further delays were unacceptable.

“Do we even know why the avalanche happened?” Kuvira asked as they crowded around in the new town hall, pouring over topographic maps. “You built the town right up the side of the mountain, you must have felt safe.”

“It’s the mines,” Tunba grumbled. “We got too greedy, dug too deep, and now we’ve angered the spirits.”

“There are no spirits,” Trung retorted. “Just human folly.”

“I’m rather inclined to agree with him,” Baatar stupidly piped up, and Kuvira raised her hand before a squabble broke out.

“We need to focus. Pushing blame around is just going to get more people killed.” She drew their attention back to the map, following a ridge with her finger. “What if we moved these? Shifted these back?”

“Are you crazy?” Baatar hissed. “Bending on such a scale? You’ll bring the mountain itself down on us!”

“Not to mention destroy the mines beneath it,” added Trung.

Kuvira rubbed her temples. “Suggestions then, instead of naysaying?”

Baatar scowled at her. “This isn’t something we can solve in one night. We need to survey the land. Check the existing structures. We don’t even know if we have the resources—”

“Twenty-four hours,” Kuvira ordered him. “I want a solid solution, numbers, a list of whatever we need. Consider the entire unit here at your disposal.”

His eyes narrowed and his mouth thinned, but he bowed his head. “Yes, Great Uniter.”


	22. miracle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which two idiots barely survive.

Kuvira’s neck hurt. She couldn’t move her legs. Blood was rushing to her head…or was it rushing out? The icy water trickling down her neck told her she’d been in the snow long enough for her body heat to melt some of it. The fact that it was trickling _into_ her hair…she was upside down. 

Getting her feet unstuck was a struggle. She’d lost a boot, and her toes were numb. The ankle of her other foot felt sprained. But she kicked and wriggled until she was free, and could pull herself the right way up. Then she began to dig.

She’d been going for a while, and her fingers were frozen in her mittens, when something punched through the snow and struck her in the head. A boot! Attached to a person! Baatar! He sat slumped in the snow above her, looking dazed. His glasses and his coat were gone.

“Kuvira?”

She scrambled out of the snow, inhaling deep icy lungfuls of fresh air.

“Are we dead?”

Kuvira’s ankle throbbed. Her fingers hurt. Meanwhile Baatar’s eyes weren’t focusing, and he held his arm oddly. The wind blew, cold and harsh; they both shivered violently.

“I don’t think so,” she said slowly.

“Oh spirits,” he moaned. “That was stupid.”

“The avalanche dams were your idea,” she reminded him.

“I told you to bend _gently_.”

“Moving rock isn’t precision work,” she grumbled. “It’s not like metal.”

Baatar curled up next to her, cradling his arm. She was beginning to think it was dislocated. “Did the others make it out?”

“Considering that I ordered them to stay in the shelters,” Kuvira growled, “they’d better have.”

“Do you think it worked?”

Kuvira looked down at the valley. The snow had been diverted; Hima seemed intact enough. “We’ll find out soon enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I personally think Kuvira isn't as good at bending actual earth and rock as she is at bending metal. If the mountain had been made of >80% metal, easy peasy. Too bad for her, mountains are still mostly rock. :P


	23. sentiment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which motivations differ but the path remains the same. For now.

“Idiots!” Seiji seethed, wrapping Kuvira’s foot with a viciousness that would have served better on the battlefield. “You could have killed yourselves.”

“But we didn’t,” said Kuvira, and that was all that mattered. The avalanche dams had worked, Hima was safe, and tomorrow they would finally be on their way. Back to warmer climes, away from all the snow and wind.

“If you’re going to be our commander, you’re going to have to make a few hard choices,” Seiji said grimly. “It means making other people do the dirty work.”

“I don’t want this to be like the old regime,” insisted Kuvira. She set aside her bowl of warming herbal soup. “I’m not going to hide behind my soldiers like a coward.”

“You can’t lead anyone anywhere if you’re dead. You’re the  _ Great Uniter _ now. Stupid title, if you ask me, but the people believe in you. In  _ you _ , Kuvira.” Seiji punctuated that with a rather painful jab to Kuvira’s chest. “Part of your responsibility towards them: staying alive to fulfill all your idealistic promises.”

“I didn’t know you had so much faith in me,” Kuvira joked, massaging her sternum.

“More fool me,” said Seiji.

“Do you regret it? Leaving everything behind for this?”

“Child,” Seiji said heavily, “I had nothing when I left. And when this is done, I’ll go back to nothing.”

“It doesn’t have to be nothing.”

With a gusty sigh, Seiji sat down at the foot of Baatar’s camp bed. He didn’t stir from his sleep. She reached for Kuvira’s hand, clasping it between her own. “I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this for idealistic young fools like you.”

“Do you believe we can—”

“Yes,” said Seiji. Then the moment passed, and she swatted Kuvira upside the head. “Just don’t get a swelled head.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seiji: Be responsible and don't let power get to your head.  
> Kuvira: Blow shit up and don't relinquish control. Got it.
> 
> I feel like a lot of people, even people who should've known better, were so taken by Kuvira's zeal and rhetoric that they eventually became a bunch of yes-men who ended up turning a blind eye to the Empire's atrocities.


	24. and to all a good night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nation--partially united! A story--coming to an end! Kuvira--not coming to bed, because she has to think about stuff!

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

Kuvira didn’t stir when Baatar shuffled up behind her and draped a blanket over her shoulders. He had his own clutched tightly around his neck, his hair standing on end like a boarcupine’s.

“Why are _you_ always sleeping?”

“Because I’m a normal human being. And uniting a country is hard work.” He yawned so wide his jaw creaked. “Go back to sleep. This is why you’re always so grumpy.”

“I’m not grumpy,” she snapped.

“I rest my case.” His hair tickled her neck and cheek as he laid his head on her shoulder. “I can’t wait to get away from all this snow. I’d never thought I’d miss the way Ba Sing Se _smelled_.”

“Well, soon you’ll enjoy all the weird smells you want,” she said, jogging him lightly with her elbow. “I’m sure An Joong will be happy to have you back in the Outer Rings to help with the rebuilding.”

Baatar groaned into her neck. His good arm wrapped around her waist, holding her close. He was a warm, broad presence against her back. A comforting presence, she realised with a strange twinge in her gut. It was nice to have him close like this, always at her back.

So much had changed over the months. Stabilizing Ba Sing Se had at first seemed an impossible task, but now it was their base of operations. States had fallen in line far easier than anticipated. People followed her, a nobody from Zaofu, listened to her, heeded her orders. Contrary to Suyin’s dire predictions, things were working out.

“Stop thinking so hard.” Baatar gave another yawn, stale breath gusting across her face. “Come back to bed.”

“Both of us won’t fit in those cramped things.”

“Come now, Kuvira. Uniting is our speciality. We’ll make it work.”

**end**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Baatar is always sleeping because I always write these before bed. Kuvira stays awake because someone needs to move the narrative along.  
> In private/in bed, Baatar makes terrible "uniting" type jokes. He thinks they're very clever; Kuvira begs to differ.
> 
> A huge thank you to everyone who has read, and kudosed, and commented on this Advent Fest fic that stretched out waaaay beyond the advent. I hope you're having a wonderful 2020. <3 <3 <3  
> If you want, come yell at me (and with me) about Kuvira/Baavira/Earth Empire feels over at [tumblr](https://engmaresh.tumblr.com/).


End file.
